NIST Climate Portfolio Update:

Circular Economy

Keeping atoms and molecules inside the economy, producing value, and out of unwanted sinks such

as the environment (air, water, soil, etc)

What is the Circular Economy?

The Circular Economy transforms our throwaway economy into

one where waste is eliminated, resources are circulated, and

nature is regenerated

Source: Ellen MacArthur Foundation circular economy team drawing from Braungart & McDonough and Cradle to Cradle (C2C)

SOS 2.0: system of economic activities that is restorative to the environment, enables resources to maintain their highest values and aims for the elimination of waste through superior design

Circular Economy @ NIST

Keeping atoms and molecules inside the economy, producing value, and out of unwanted sinks such as the environment (air, water, soil, etc)

We are structured roughly around materials classes

Beginning with Polymers/Plastics

Definition for NIST: Organization

UN Draft Language (9/21): products and materials are designed so that they can be reused, remanufactured or recycled and therefore maintained in the economy for as long as possible along with the resources they are made of, and the generation of waste, especially hazardous waste, is avoided or minimised, and greenhouse gas emissions are prevented and reduced

Two Converging Issues with Plastic Waste

• Global trade disruption in plastic waste• Markets increasingly limited for traditional methods of collection

and sortation• Opportunities for new mechanical pathways and new

technologies (e.g. chemical processes)

• Increasing awareness of environmental impacts of plastic debris, from macro- to micro-scale

• Quantification challenges and data scarcity problems

Science Advances, 2018, DOI: 10.1126/sciadv.aat0131

World Economic Forum, Ellen MacArthur Foundation and McKinsey & Company, The New Plastics Economy – Rethinking the future of plastics (2016)

Circular Polymers

“Accelerating Circular Supply Chains for Plastics” Center for the Circular Economy @ ClosedLoopPartners.com

NIST Discretionary Start-Up: PolymersData & Decision Tools

• Supply Chain Resilience• Life-cycle Data and Economics• Material Flows/Mass Balance• Reference Data Sets, Data Infrastructure & Documentary Standards

New Processes & Materials• Mechanical, Biological and Chemical cycling routes• Fit-for-Purpose design rules• Automated synthesis / AI platforms• Reference materials & data

Environmental Impacts• Marine Debris• Nano- and Micro-plastics• Sampling methods• New Measurements (Characterization) • Reference materials

Materials & Processes

Environment

Data & Decision Tools

Investment Portfolio

MML, leadEL, primary partnerPML, participating PINCNR, ITL, collaborating staff

Opportunities for all parts of NIST!

Polyolefin Compatibilization

• NIST developed rheo-Raman-microscope provides unprecedented view of hierarchical kinetics in mixed polyolefins, leading to strategies to enhance mechanical properties

• MCR allows quantification of % crystallinity of both HDPE and iPPsimultaneously during process

Kalman Migler, Derek Huang (NRC)Materials Science and Engineering Division, MML

Crystallization of 50/50 HDPE/iPP blend during cooling

(100x Speedup)

Raman spectroscopy withmultivariate curve resolution (MCR)

Rheo-Raman-Microscope

Model Nanoparticles for Dynamic Studies

• Goal: both stationary and released, uniform nanoparticles (100 nm to 1 µm) for standards and calibrations

• Arrays of nanoplastic in phenolic resin fabricated• Raman microspectroscopy complete (spectra shown for thin films)

Sam Stavis, Andy Madison(NRC)Microsystems and Nanotechnology Division, PML

Electron scattering Fluorescence emission Rayleigh scattering Raman scattering

Circular Economy Resource Registry

• Platform on CDCS framework (w/ ITL)

• Draft Schema (XML), Complete• Test Site active• Core data set being implemented

shared resource types, CE specific metadata search & faceted browsing custom CE web views Publishing API access supports interoperability

Gretchen Greene, Ray Plante, Kelsea Schumacher, Ben Long (ITL), Ali Daoudi

Office of Data Informatics, MML

10/22/2021 10

Circular Economy in the High-Tech World:• eWaste

• Solar waste• Battery waste

FY21 Workshops

January 2021

Kelsea Schumacher and Marty Green

Assessment of Mass Balance Accounting Methods for Polymers:• Basis of congressional

report mandated by SOS 2.0

May 2021

Kelsea Schumacher, Kate Beers, Kalman Migler, KC Morris and Josh Kneifel

Facilitating a Circular Economy for Textiles:• Technical challenges

• Environmental impacts• Government viewpoints

September 2021

Kelsea Schumacher and Amanda Forster

Relationships and Future Opportunities: Domestic

• 3 Department of State working groups: Plastic Waste, Circular Economy, and UNEP/UNEA preparations• Increasing DOC coordination w/ ITA and NOAA

• EPA National Recycling Strategy (expected Sept 2021)• SOS 2.0 studies (Innovative Uses of Plastic Waste, Minimizing Creation of New Plastic

Waste)

• MOU with NSF on Emerging Frontiers Research Institutes • 5 NSF Workshops in 10 months (Convergence Accelerator, DMR and CBET)

• Multiple partnerships with industry, academia and other National Labs• Chevron Phillips, Braskem, Dow, Eastman, Argonne National Lab, Brookhaven National Lab,

Hawai’i Pacific University, Johns Hopkins University, University of Maryland, Woods Hole Oceanographic Inst.

• Trade associations engaged across multiple projects • ACC, APR, BIO, The Vinyl Institute, etc

• Early discussions with FDA, USDA and NSTC Sustainable Chemistry working group

• JRC-NIST Virtual Workshop on NanoplasticsResearch (Jenn Lynch, et al.)

• APEC (Jenn Lynch) and ASTM workshops (KC Morris)

• ISO/TC 323 Circular Economy• 5 working groups (NIST on US TAG)

• Policy & Government (Plastic Pollution/CE):• UNEP negotiations coincide with similar

discussions and negotiations within OECD, WTO, G7 and G20

• Plans for symposia (PacifiChem, ACS, etc) and conferences (GRC)

• US-France bilateral + joint meeting with the French embassy

• SIM working groups on waste management and circular infrastructure in the Americas

Joint & International

• Carbon Capture

• Resilience

• Infrastructure• Physical• Societal

• Supply Chain• CHIPS Act / NDAA

• Bioeconomy, Biomanufacturing

• Equity and Environmental Justice

• Proposed expansions of AMO, MEP

• New NSF Technology Directorate

Related Priorities / Opportunities

mobilizegreen.org

CE expansion planso High-Tech/Critical Mineralso Textileso Concrete/Built Environmento Biomass/Food Waste o Expansion of plastics activities

Thank You!

beers@nist.gov

Kelsea Schumacher

Stephanie HookerKC MorrisKalman MiglerGretchen GreeneSam StavisJosh KneifelAmanda Forster

Martin GreenJennifer LynchSara OrskiLiPiin SungJohn SchielJack DouglasElijah PetersonZach TrauttDebra AudusTyler MartinPeter BeaucageAdam PintarRay Plante

Ben Long David Goodwin

Ana BarriosAaron BurkeyKevin BradyAli DaoudiJohn GiddensDerek HuangRobert IvancicAndrew MadisonKaty ShawChase Thompson